With more than 145 million cellular business IoT connections expected to be activated by 2020, it’s nearly impossible to argue that wearables, Internet of Things and machine-to-machine technologies are just a passing trend. The bigger question is, how long before IoT adoption reaches critical mass?

The answer is not as cut and dry. For a deeper perspective on this topic, I’m kicking this week’s spotlight off with an insightful Q&A with Verizon’s James Kilmer, who sheds light on IoT trends in the manufacturing industry. The required reading list continues with a series of topical articles covering an array of security topics, including potential Windows 10 vulnerabilities, phishing scams and retail breaches. Finally, let’s look at what Verizon’s new billing shift means for the reseller channel.

With nearly every element of a manufacturing plant, business process or system being connected to the network (or made IP-aware), IoT is really heading towards a tipping point. As a result, CIOs are faced with a lot of challenges. (The New IP)

Enterprise users who bring their personal Windows devices into work in a BYOD environment would be more likely to have updated to Windows 10 on their own and not customized the update. This could endanger corporate data. (FierceITSecurity)

Using connected technology, Mercedes customers are able to lock and unlock doors, flash lights and sound the horns, among other things, and some will be able to remotely start their vehicle with mobile apps. (FierceWirelessTech)

As Willie Sutton supposedly said, he robbed banks “because that’s where the money is.” That also explains why law firms and lawyers are increasingly the targets of cyber-intrusion, particularly phishing scams. Apparently, phishing in legal waters can yield a full net of stolen information. (Lexology)

In today's news cycle, it's become somewhat standard fare to read reports of a significant breach in the retail world. But it's not just the big names that have targets on their backs; as Verizon's 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report details: “the attack methods are becoming more varied, even against small businesses. (Chain Store Age)

Under a new program shift, all of Verizon's more than 1,000 partners now will be able to capture the sales for critical cloud and telecommunications services deals as part of a complete managed services offering rather than just collecting an agent fee. (CRN)